


The Expendability of Interns

by Violastar3



Series: Spaced Out [1]
Category: StarCraft (Video Games)
Genre: Body Modification, Hair Dyeing, Human Experimentation, Interns & Internships, Medical, egg implant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24691297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Violastar3/pseuds/Violastar3
Summary: Kerrigan is an intern on a Terran base, and she absolutely hates it. The Science department loves her - her internship status basically means she's a guinea pig for their scientific antics and she's finally fed up with all of it. Well, almost. She's got one last shot to getting her back to normal. Despite all the weirdness she's encountered before, this has got to take the cake.
Series: Spaced Out [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790179
Kudos: 1





	The Expendability of Interns

_Base Cafeteria: Kerrigan_

I began to regret my internship at this horrible place when I realized that interns were expendable. “I don’t think I should be doing this.” I kept trying to tell people to leave me alone, but no one would. My name badge introducing me as someone who wouldn’t be paid for their time here was like a homing beacon to all these loons. They zeroed in on me when I was free, asking for help in their experiments. At first, I said yes. What else was I supposed to do? This internship was great for my degree and resume. At this point in my career, I wanted to hang the degree and work at that McDonalds back on Mars forever. Anything but this.

It started with the ping pong game. I played against their robot and lost miserably. Scientists took bets on who would win, although there weren’t many who lost anything on my loss. Then came the baseball game with the robotic team. When I lost consciousness after a headshot from the pitcher, they transferred me to the chemistry department. That was when things got even worse.

“I want to know how you feel after you ingest this.”

“Um, no? Why would I eat that?”

“You don’t want to lose this internship, do you?”

“No…”

The pasty green cookie was shoved into my mouth before I could react. It tasted awful and made me feel even worse. “Astounding! The swelling of your face is simply marvelous! Do you have any other sensations?”

Yeah. I dealt with that every day. Literally. No escape. How much worse would this semester get? These scientific bullies were going to kill me before too long.

I tried to change my appearance with a supply depot hair dye kit, a self-done haircut, and a pair of glasses. It didn’t work, and the dye reacted with the awfully varied body chemistry I’d been forced into. Not only did it fail to turn my hair a beautiful shade of black, but it made it all fall out.

Out came the kerchief, and the people just got more interested. Everyone I passed asked if the baldness was because of their experiment, wanting to add the finding to their summary. So much for that plan.

I sat in a corner in the cafeteria, trying to hide. I poked at my carrots and mashed potato. Not even a favorite meal could help to cheer me up. This month had to be one of the worst months in my life. Just then, something changed.

Someone sat down across from me and _didn’t_ say anything. I stared at him. He ate his food. I stared even more, and he looked up, comfortable with the awkwardness.

“Hi…” I started out simple.

“Hello.”

“Do you need anything?”

“No, not really.” He paused, then smiled. “Just someone to share an adventure with.”

I stood up, done with my food. “Sorry pal. You’ve got the wrong person. I’ve been through enough experiments to last me a lifetime. I don’t know what else could possibly go wrong with this poor body, and I don’t plan on finding out. Take your search somewhere else, to someone who wants it.” I turned and headed up to my barracks, ready to turn in my request to leave.

“Just a minute. I think you’d be interested in this one.”

I rolled my eyes, and turned back, smirking. “Impress me. Nothing much will.”

He leaned in, as if this was a secret. “I can get you back to normal.” _Okay, that’s a shocker_ , I thought sarcastically. “All of the effects from all the crap they’ve put into you? I can get it out.” This was actually slightly intriguing.

“And you’ll do this… how?”

“Come into my office right after this break. C7-23.”

_C7-23: Kerrigan_

I knocked on the door, and the same guy opened up, letting me in. “This is a storage room, not an office.”

“That’s what I told them, but hey, they set things up. If they say it’s an office, then it is.” He rummaged around for a bit, setting up a table with beakers, and tubes.

I looked around, marveling that anyone could use this little bitty space as a laboratory. “I guess the shelves are useful, right?”

“Yeah. They’re alright.” It was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, “I’m actually sorry, but I don’t know your name.”

“Kerrigan. I’m from Mars.” I was kind of proud of that, being from one of the colonies.

He turned around. “I hear the weather’s nice there.”

“Yeah. I really miss it. What’s your name?”

“Brandon. From Earth, North America.” He sighed, and I could tell that he missed home too. He gave a quick sigh, rubbed his hands together, and said, “Let’s get to it.”

I held my hands up. “Wait. Explain it to me _before_ you inject me with anything. I want to know exactly what you’re doing.”

He picked up a large hypodermic needle. It was empty, devoid of anything. _Whew. Nothing going in._ “This will be used to pull out a sample of your blood. I’ll run it through a few tests, add some stem cells, compare it with a regular blood sample, and inject it back into you. With the junk filtered out, you should begin to go back to normal.”

That made sense, but I wasn’t sure about it. “Have you tested this on anyone or anything else?”

He nodded, and I ran with it, knowing full well that he was lying through his teeth. “So…?”

I held out my hand for him to shake. “I’ll do it.” We shook on it, and I sat down, ready for the extraction. It wasn’t that bad, watching him take the sample. I was surprised to see that my blood really was an off color. Yeah, this place really had not been good for me.

He set the syringe into place by a series of beakers and tubes. Each, I supposed would filter out the junk from this place and help me feel like myself again. The contents passed through so many serums that I lost count, and just watched the colors change. First orange, to yellow, blue, purple, green, and finally, to red. It took 15 minutes, but I wasn’t worried. I’d already finished my duties for the day, so this was fine.

“Are you ready for reentry?”

I swallowed. “I suppose so.”

He set a new needle with the contents on my skin and took a deep breath. This was a big moment for him and me, and I found myself holding my breath as well. As it went in, I felt that small, insignificant prick, like I always did. But then the fireworks started going off.

“Oh, that’s not good.” I felt instant pain at the injection site, like my arm was trying to self-destruct. “I think I’m rejecting it. It’s too different, and it wants to kill it.” Brandon was pacing, his face pale and worried. The pain grew worse, and I held my arm tight across my chest. My fingertips started turning black, and it spread across my hand and down my arm.

“It’s killed my hand, and is starting on my arm. If you don’t want to be accused of murder, I suggest you cut it off.” I was surprised at how calm I was, despite telling him to dismember me. He did so, in a clean and orderly fashion, of which I was quite impressed.

“Well, it was a good idea, the whole blood thing.” I commented, as he wrapped my stump in gauze. “Until this happened. But hey, live and learn, right?”

Brandon didn’t say anything. My straightforward humor didn’t seem to be helping, so I put my other hand on his shoulder. “Hey, look at me. It’s alright. This and far worse have happened to me, so why let it bother me? I never know if there’s something worse around the corner.” He nodded, ashamed of his failure.

“Just go. I’m sorry.” He let me out of his office, and I headed to my quarters. I decided to take a different route than usual, to avoid all the regular riff raff and their horrible experiments.

Along the way, I passed a room that made me shiver. _That’s odd._ I wanted to check it out, and went to grab the handle with my now missing dominant hand. Oh yeah. Great. I grabbed the knob with my other hand, and it was locked.

 _Bummer. Oh well._ I checked the room number so I could come back again, if I needed to. _C7-13. That’s easy enough to remember._

As I walked away, I heard a click. Spinning around, and startled by the sudden sound, I found that it was open. More shivers came in waves from the door, so I went in. The waves made me think I was cold, and I wished that I’d brought a jacket. This base was always so cold, especially here on the moon Titan.

There was almost nothing in here. One box in the middle of the room had a light from overhead shining on it. Other than that, there was nothing. I approached the box, curious as to what its contents were. I felt ripples in my skin as I reached out for it. It was so hard to grab, but then I had it! I yanked on it, to pull it out of the center. It wasn’t very heavy, so I fell over, having assumed that it weighed as much as it looked. I tugged it over to a corner, grabbed the lid, and looked inside. I was surprised to see an egg. Were the waves protection for this thing? Or to protect everyone against it and keep people away? I had no way of knowing. I picked up the egg, setting the box down, so I could look at it better in the light.

It was a slimy yellow, covered in a green webbing. The webbing seemed to hold it together, and it gave off a pungent odor. I wrinkled my nose, disgusted by this egg, but it still held my attention. What was inside? I’d never seen an egg like this before. What kind of creature grew here?

Someone walked by outside the door. I froze. I forgot that I might not be allowed in here, and now had something possibly private or dangerous, in my hand. Voices passed, and then disappeared. I sighed, feeling better that they hadn’t discovered me. Then someone said, “I don’t think that door is supposed to be open.” With a swift bang, the door shut, and might have been locked. Great. I was stuck in here with this egg, and no way out. Just perfect.

The temperature in the room began to drop, and I worried about the egg. I didn’t want to ruin its progress by letting it get cold, so I held it closer to me. Then it did something strange.

“What the??” It leapt out of my hand and onto my stomach. It sent some little leg out, which found my belly button, and then stuck itself inside. I cried out, afraid of what it might do. It started to make me feel warmer, and I smiled. _Well, that’s a bonus._

Then warmer turned to drowsy, and I lay down on the floor of room C7-13 and dozed.

_C7-13: Kerrigan - several hours later_

I woke up and checked my phone. Some time had passed since I left the other guy’s office, for his test that would erase all the junk I’d been through here. Instead of curing me, he’d had to cut off my arm. I sighed. Why was I still so okay with that? Seriously, I gave up my arm like it was a haircut. Jeez. This place is getting to me.

I put my phone back in my pocket, and then froze. That gesture was so natural, grabbing my phone and putting it back. I always did it with my dominant hand. The hand that had been cut off. _How did I…_ _Whoa!_

I wanted to leap back, but it wouldn’t have done any good. I had an arm. It was back. _How???_ I felt it with my other hand. It felt normal, like nothing had happened. I inspected it carefully, trying to see if I’d missed anything. I know he cut it off. Why is it back? Am I dreaming? Then I looked down again and saw the egg. It was firmly attached to my abdomen, and steadily growing bigger. I hoped it wasn’t doing any horrible damage. I guessed that it had grown back the other hand, which was quite nice. _I’ll leave you in place. I don’t think you’ll do a ton of damage._

I stood and tried to walk to the door. I felt dizzy, probably because I’d been laying down for so long. Zipping up my jacket to cover up the egg, I opened the door, and made my way to my quarters.

The fun was just beginning.

_The Command Center: Commander Brown_

“What do you mean, gone?”

“The box was moved to a corner, and the contents were gone!”

“You didn’t see anything inside?”

“No sir, only that it was empty.”

“Good. You may leave now.” He waved the lower officer away. He smoothed his mustache back into its happy place, having been ruffled by the strange and not good news brought to him by his subordinates. The whole operation was in danger, because of this. He had been sure that the alien technology would be enough to protect the thing, but he realized that he’d been wrong. _Great. One thing missing, and we’re all in trouble._

His assistant asked if he wanted to quarantine the whole unit. He decided against that, not wanting the whole crew to panic. Whoever stole it would soon be discovered. He hoped.

_F5-12: Kerrigan_

Oh man. This was bad. I’d gone to bed, feeling like I needed some more sleep. Upon waking, though, I found that the green webbing was now covering most of my torso. The skin under it throbbed a mutant purple. A lump was still evident where the original egg had jumped. Even as I sat here, I watched the webbing spread down my legs. I stood, wondering if I could peel off the green stuff. _Nope, bad idea! That was stupid and painful._

A knock came at my door. “Hey, are you ready for that project you said you’d help me with?” Tom. Ugh. “You were late, so I thought I’d stop by.”

I pressed the button by my bedside, locking the door. “Um, no.” I called out. “I’m not feeling well today and am going to have to do a raincheck.”

“What do you have?” I sighed. He sounded so concerned. They all did when their little mouse disappeared. “I have medic training, and I might be able to-“

“No, I’m fine. I’ll just use the stuff I have here. Give me 24 hours to get it out of my system. Really, I’ll be okay. I just don’t want to spread it around, you know?”

“Okay. See you tomorrow.” The comm clicked off and I let out a deep sigh. 

Finally. When would he learn that I wasn’t interested in him or his demented projects? Tom had been really trying to pursue me while I'd been here. I'd accidentally ended up on a date with him my second week here, and I wasn't about to let there be one on purpose after that. There's only so much chatter about alien cadavers that I can take, and anything science related coming out of his mouth was a real turn-off.

I shook my head. Back to the real problem at hand. Who _could_ I go to for help with this? How would I even get there with this thing on me?

_One Hour Later: Kerrigan_

After deliberating for a while, I decided against leaving. Instead, I watched a show on my holo, and waited for this growth to finish growing. Every few minutes, it started making weird popping noises, wet and slimy. _And, that’s my skin. Yuck._ When the show was done, I made note of the progress, and found that all that was left was my arms and head. My new arm was the first to show signs of oddness. The skin turned that awful purple, and the webbing grew on it very fast. The other arm went a little slower, but pretty soon, they looked the same. I thought it looked like I was turning into the egg. My head moved almost involuntarily down to my chest, and I fell asleep again.

_Some time later: Kerrigan_

Darkness. Well, not total darkness. I could see some light from the outside, but not enough to illuminate what I could see. Speaking of which, what could I see? Not much of anything right now. As I mentally examined myself, I noticed that I felt different. I’ve never even imagined the feelings I have right now.

I tried moving my arms, finding that they moved a little differently. I stroked one, the best I could, and found a hard shell. _Shell? Or bone?_ Nothing squishy about it. The next thing I felt was a cord connecting my torso to something. The outside? The egg. _Oh goodness. This isn’t good. I’m inside the egg._

Panic set in, as the realization sank in. _Not good! Not good!_ I started thrashing inside this awful pod. A slight shift from the cord seemed to change the chemistry of the solution I floated in, calming my nerves, and making me still. My mind was still freaking out. _Why did I ever touch that stupid thing? None of this would have happened if I’d minded my own business. Heck, I wouldn’t have even been on this unit if I hadn’t-_

My mind slowed as well, the chemicals finally reaching it. Be still. _Who said that?_ Be still. All will be well soon. Finish.

That was weird, but I didn’t question it, and let things go for a while.

_The Command Center: Commander Brown_

“Anything yet?”

“No, sir.” My subordinate wavered, getting nervous. “We haven’t found anything yet, but we’re still looking.”

I sighed. Twenty-four hours into this whole mess, and still nothing. “No signs of mutation? Any missing personnel?”

“No, sir. Although, there have been some reports of a bug going around in the chemistry department.”

“I don’t want sicknesses. I want answers about where this filthy mutation has gone inside my facility!” If this wasn’t discovered soon, he really would have to quarantine the unit, and that would lead to bigger problems.

_F5-12: Kerrigan_

I heard another knock at the door, and Tom’s annoying drone again. “Come on, Kerrigan. You can’t raincheck me for three days. No one gets sick for that long. I’m coming back with a medic, and they’ll fix you right up. You’ll see.”

Panic. Oh no. No, a medic can’t come in here and see me like this! I opened my eyes, only to find that the sack I’d just been through was gone. _Where is it?_ Not only was the sack on the floor. So was a ton of purple sludge that filled the room. It hadn’t crossed the threshold of the door yet, and I really hoped it wouldn’t any time soon. I looked around, and saw a small creature like thing, secreting the stuff. I wanted to kick it and stop it from spreading this stuff around. But, I couldn’t. That thing was saving my life. _Why? What’s it doing?_

**It’s your creep colony; it secretes a solution that you can live on.**

_Alright…_

I stood, and for the first time in days, didn’t feel woozy, dizzy, or unsure of my footing. In fact, I felt great. Better than I think I’d ever felt ever. Which concerned me. I approached my little mirror, hanging on the backside of the door. I almost fainted.

I thought I’d faint when I lost all my hair. I thought I’d faint when I’d had the guy cut my arm off. I thought it would happen if I found out someone wanted to marry me. I guess this would have to trump everything. “What on earth…” I murmured.

Thin, dreadful things grew out of my head, like hair. My body was hardened, a black armor covering most of my arms, torso and legs. Underneath were purple lines, I’m guessing those were my veins. Out of the top of my shoulders grew six long, slender and sharp wing fragments. I’m guessing those were what helped me with my balance when I stood.

_This is not good._

_C7-23: Brandon_

Another day passed where I didn’t feel like doing anything. I knew I was a failure. Everything I touched failed. Even the project that got me in here didn't work well. Now I'd failed that intern, Kerrigan.

If that about my failures was true, then what was my purpose in still being here? _I could take an escape pod and try to fit into some Protoss colony. That’s possible._

_No, I can’t do that. I have people back on earth, and they need me, and I need this job. So, I’m going to stick with it. No matter what. It’s all going to be fine._

 _Beep beep!_ My com-watch went off. I sighed. _Who wants to talk to me? I’m no one special._ I answered the call, but didn’t see anyone. “Hello?”

“Hey, Brandon. It’s Kerrigan… I’m that girl that you worked with the other day… the one with the arm…”

I froze. Why one earth did she want now?

“Hey, how’s it going? Are you adjusting well? Again, I’m so sorry-”

“Don’t worry about that. It’s… um. Fine now. I need to ask you a favor…”

I frowned. Was she needing help grabbing things? Was she really that out of it that she was asking me for help? At least she was asking me, and not some other scientist, like that Tom guy. He was annoying, but thought he could get any girl he wanted the way he bragged about his work in the cadaver lab. He didn't even do half of those projects! Heck, he passes out every other time he goes in there! Well, she was asking me, so I might as well help her out.

“Alright. What do you need? Anything from the supply depot? Something in your bunker?”

“It’s nothing at the depot, just here in my bunker. I… um... put something up too high, and can’t get it down." She sounded nervous and started talking faster. "The thing is… it’s kind of embarrassing, so please don’t bring anyone with you.”

“Sure, that’s fine. Will do. How soon do you need it? I can come right now if you’d like.”

I heard a pause on the other side of the holo, and then a quiet voice. “Yes, right now if you can.” Something wet popped in the background. “Gotta go. See you when you get here.” And she hung up.

 _Hmm…_ _This could be interesting._

_F5-12: Brandon_

I showed up at her room only a few minutes later. This sounded bad, so I made sure to hurry. Nothing in my office was pressing right now, and this was for a friend. _Well, I hope she's a friend... even after I had to cut her arm off._ I approached the door, and smelled something slightly pungent. I couldn’t tell where it was coming from, and really hoped it wasn’t Kerrigan’s room. The closer I got, the more I realized that it was her room. The floor outside was slightly damp, for some reason, and I hoped there weren’t too many others that noticed.

Well, she was an intern, and the only female one here at the base, so it made sense that she was the only person living in this branch of the base. All the guy interns were in the other hall. Not many people came through here, except custodial, which I was thankful for. This could end up being even more interesting than I thought.

I knocked. “Hey, Kerrigan? I’m here. Can you let me in?” I heard the click of the camera, knew she was checking who it was, and then the click of the door unlocking. I turned the latch, took a deep breath, pushed the door open, stepped inside, and closed the door. I breathed again, and gagged. The stench was overpowering, and made me woozy. I leaned up against the door, only to discover that some purple sludge covering it had gotten on my sleeve. The purple sludge was everywhere, ankle deep, covering everything, and expanding up the walls.

I turned to find Kerrigan, and saw someone with their back turned toward me, but they didn’t look… human. It turned, and I saw her face that it was still mostly the same one I’d seen three days ago. She looked so different though. Her pupils were purple, needle-like hair follicles poked out of her head, and the frames of enormous wings protruded from her shoulders. She also had both arms, which surprised me. Purple webbed skin throbbed all over her, and I looked her in the eyes.

“Di- di- did I do that?” I tried to breathe slowly, and keep my stomach down.

She weakly grimaced. “No, but I thought you might be able to help me.” She sat down, and tossed her hands up. “Honestly, you’re the only person I trust on this base. I’m pretty sure the commander would kill me if he found me, and Tom would just report me, and literally everyone else would experiment on me, not caring if I got back to normal.” She sighed in exasperation.

I walked closer, shoes squelching in the muck, and pulled up a mostly normal chair next to her. “Is that what you want? To go back to normal?”

She sighed. “I don’t know what I want. At this point, if I could get back to Mars and work at McDonalds, I’d be happy.” Kerrigan studied her hand, turning it over, and looking at how strange it was. “But I get the sinking feeling that it’s not possible anymore.” And then she started crying.

 _I hate when people leak. I never know how to help them stop._ _Do I hug her? Not like that… Do I tell her things’ll work out? That it’ll all be better again soon? Do I just give her ice cream? Girls always like ice cream. What do I do?_ I settled on putting my hand on her knee and giving her a reassuring look.

That was going well, until this freaky little blob growing next to her shot something at me, knocking me to the floor.

“Oh my gosh! Are you okay?” She gave the blob an angry look, and helped me up out of the slime. “I’m so sorry! That thing hasn’t done anything like that before.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine.” I said, before looking down and discovering that all was not fine. “Oh no.” On my chest, a little green and yellow egg was pulsating like it was looking for something. It slowly slid down to my stomach, and I felt it insert something under the skin. I propped myself up, and onto a chair, like I was trying to back away from it, however unsuccessfully.

Kerrigan began to breathe heavily. “Oh my gosh, this is all my fault. You’ve got one too, and we’re both gonna die if they find out about this, and-”

I did the only sensible thing, and slapped her. “Calm down. Sit down, and tell me how this happened.” I looked her in the eyes, her expression shocked. My resolution to figure this out calmed her down a little, and she sat down.

She told me about the room with the weird waves, about the box and the egg inside. She elaborated on how it had entirely covered her, and when she’d come out, she was like this. I understood completely. Now my only worry was that the same thing would happen to me.

“So, what is this thing? Will it kill me? Mutate me as well?”

Kerrigan shrugged her shoulders, and the wings behind her moved as well. “I don’t know. But, whatever happens, your mutation is happening a lot faster than mine did. Mine was three days, I think, from start to finish, but that thing is moving fast.”

I checked it again, and noted its' progress. The webbing from the egg had spread itself over my abdomen, and quickly down my legs. “I think the purple sludge has something to do with it.” I said, noticing a change in speed when I lifted my feet out of it.

“I think it does too.” She agreed. “That stuff wasn’t there until after I was done.”

She kept talking, but I started having difficulty following what she was saying. My head started spinning, and my stomach felt weak. “I don’t feel... very… good…” I lost my balance, and tumbled from the chair to the floor. The purple stuff seemed like it was swallowing me, and I don’t remember anything right after that.

_F5-12: Kerrigan_

“Oh. Shoot. This is bad.” The guy I’d brought in to help was now succumbing to the same freaking problem. With an egg firmly growing over him, and the purple stuff accelerating its growth by ten-fold, I had no idea what to do.

I sat down by Blobby. “What’s the big Idea, huh, Blobby? Why did you have to go and do that?”

And clear as a bell, Blobby spoke. **You said you trusted him, and I took you up on that.**

I stared at the blob. Where had it learned to talk like that? What all could it do?

 **Oh, I can do a lot.** Read my thoughts! **Yep. You’re the one in charge here, so it’s just easiest if I can do this.** I took a deep breath, and asked it what else it could do. **Well, I’m basically here to keep you alive at all costs, and to help you gain allies and defeat enemies.**

“Enemies?”

**Duh, this whole freaking base is your enemy. Except this guy. He’s definitely on our side now.**

“What did you do to him?”

Blobby paused for a minute, seeming to think carefully about how it told me this. “He’s becoming... useful to you."

**Author's Note:**

> *puts hands up. 
> 
> Lemme set things straight: I am a casual Starcraft player. 
> 
> I haven't done a lot of the 1-player missions, and I don't know the lore behind everything. I don't know a lot of the characters, or anything, so this fic is just my take on Kerrigan's origins. Just let it be a one-shot that calls this fandom home :D I'm open to continuing it further.


End file.
